Les Miserables
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Movie Reviews of Les Miserables
Movie Review: Beyond The Barricade
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is what got me into Les Mis. While, it's easy to understand why the flimmakers had the problems they had- it's hard to adapt a movie from a spotless book and one with such a immense fan following but- they did and did more than a wonderful job.
Les Miserables is all about revenge, love, loss, sin, redemption, and trying to right yourself. There is a little Jean Valjean in everyone common good- trying to become better and do the right thing at all costs while also, having to be honest about your past. There is a little Fantine in everyone people that have made one mistake and are condemed for life because of it. A little Javert in everyone hell bent on revenge. Cosette- that sweet naivity and Marius- wanting to be known for something, wanting to change the world. We all can relate to the characters from Les Miserables and that was Victor Hugo's intention.
While, I maybe no critic this movie moved me on a level I rarely see in the cinema. By the end credits I found myself wanting to change the world and be just an honest/decent person. While many people will complain about the historical accuracy and the literary aspects I found this movie nothing sort of touching.
Liam Neeson was perfectly cast for the role of the selfless Jean Valjean and does good living up to the "good guy" image he set forth in "Schindler's List."
This movie will make Les Mis fans proud and even those who aren't Les Mis fans will be impressed. All in all don't what rent or buy this movie and see what is beyond the barricade!
Movie Review: wonderful, i don't care what those other idiots say!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a masterpeice in itself. I don't think that it's fair that people were saying that the Valjean in the movie was happy that Javert was dead, he was happy because he was free! Wouldn't you be happy if all your life you'd been running and you were finally free? I mean, not having to worry about Javert or any other jerkfaces like him would be a wonderful, beyond wonderful feeling! He had a right to walk away smiling. He probably would've jumped in the river to save Javert, but I guess he knew that that was what Javert wanted. The Valjean in the movie was one of the most noble men I have ever seen in my life, you don't much of that in movies nowadays. And about Valjean and Fantine being in love? I think that that was a major improvement over the book from what I've heard. It made the movie even nicer to watch, it made Valjean more human. This movie also proves that human nature isn't inherently evil, it just takes a simple act of kindness to change somebody like Valjean was when he was a convict. Javert was probably just possessed, I guess. And about the way it ended, leaving us hanging and all that? Well, that way, you can decide for yourself whether he goes back to Cosette, or goes on his way like in the book. The ending was suited for people with different points of view. One minor thing that I liked about the movie was the fact that they had a black guy in it, that was cool. He died a noble death and he was very brave and dashing. And Liam Neeson is a personal favorite of mine, so I have no problem with this movie whatsoever.Movie Review: Never a Dull Moment
Summary: 5 Stars
I regret to profess I've not read Victor Hugo's masterpiece but I'm inclined to believe that film adaptations of classic novels, no matter how close, would have a degree of license to produce dramatic content and twists that are necessary to hold the audience's attention. Films work by direct representations of their subjects, albeit in a selective manner; while books work by way of textual signs, leaving more room for imagination to the reader.
I watched this movie shortly after it was released on video in 1999 or 2000, and I watched it again recently, realizing that it is a dramatic masterwork that one can return to over and over again. I find the arch-nemesis casting of Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush to be perfect to the core and I possibly couldn't identify these roles with any other actors that could sparkle such on-screen chemistry when placed in similar antithetical casting. Rush's performance is probably even unsurpassed by his similarly bravado performance in Quills (1999).
Uma Thurman surprised me with her willingness to discard her damsel-like appearances in previous films to act as Fantine, appearing much like the modern "heroin chic" - though very much a role that gave her performance another breakthrough; audiences can surely sympathise with her plight. Claire Daines as the adolescent Corsette charms us with her ethereal beauty and rather commendable acting, while Hans Matheson as the dashing Marius is another youthful eye-candy that mesmerizes with his romantic advances and passionate candour.
Movie Review: No, not true to the book, yet still a masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
If fidelity to the source material is important to you, then perhaps this isn't your film; but for connoisseurs of the art of acting, this film is in a class by itself. Liam Neeson's earnest, highly nuanced portrayal of Jean Valjean is as genuine as it gets; Geoffery Rush's Javert goes beyond all previous readings of the character and gives him a humanity at once despicable yet sympathetic.
I haven't seen her turn in a role this sensitive before or since (and I wonder why), but here Claire Danes effortlessly imbues her character with sweet, innocent beauty, never straying into cloying cutesy-poo. But even among this overwhelming host of Thespian excellence, Uma Thurman, who has never shied from a challenge, defines the character of Fantine for now and all time, with a heartbreaking authenticity that never fails to bring tears to this cynic's eyes.
There are few films ever with so many flawless portrayals, and it would be in my all-time Top 20 for the actors and acting alone - but add locations of incredible beauty, lovingly photographed, impeccable, intuitive, all-but-invisible editing, magnificent costumes, a deeply moving score - and I feel this is a film that could not possibly be improved upon (except that it comes to an end all too soon).
I'm certain that film students 20 or 30 years from now will be heard to marvel at how such a sublime, timeless work of art, a true labor of love for all involved, could have gone unheralded in it's own time.
Movie Review: Not the book or the musical, but a very good movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Victor Hugo wrote a mammoth tome of a novel. Unabridged, it easily surpasses 1200 pages. It's an extremely daunting undertaking to take such a large work and make it into one movie. Not only that, but that book has been adapted into a very successful and popular musical as well, with its own passionate following. A film coming from the same source material has a lot to live up to.
Les Miserables as a movie is a pragmatic adaptation. Several important characters are cut completely (Enjolras, Eponine) and some only briefly appear (the Thenardiers). Some characters and their behaviors are exaggerated or amalgams of those characters who had been cut. And worst of all, there's not even any singing.
But taken as a stand-alone product, it's wonderful. A dramatic, fast-paced, excellently acted period drama that focuses on the main themes of Hugo's work - love and forgiveness and redemption in a world of judgment and cruelty. Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush both excel as Valjean and Javert, and it's impressive to see how a manhunt that lasts the better part of two decades can remain tense.
If you're daunted by a novel the size of a school bus and if musicals aren't your thing, this is the absolute best way to learn the story. Only Les Mis purists will find anything to complain about.